This invention relates generally to gas turbine engines, and more particularly, to methods and apparatus for operating gas turbine engines.
Gas turbine engines typically include low and high pressure compressors, a combustor, and at least one turbine. The compressors compress air which is channeled to the combustor where it is mixed with fuel. The mixture is then ignited for generating hot combustion gases, and the combustion gases are channeled to the turbine(s) which extracts energy from the combustion gases for powering the compressor(s), as well as producing useful work to propel an aircraft in flight or to power a load, such as an electrical generator.
When engines operate in icing conditions, i.e., exposed to clouds of super-cooled water droplets, ice may accumulate on exposed external engine structures. More specifically, if engines are operated within icing conditions at low power for extended periods of time, ice accumulation within the engine and over exposed engine structures may be significant. Over time, continued operation of the engine, or a throttle burst from lower power operations to higher power operations, or vibrations due to either turbulence or asymmetry of ice accretion, may cause the accumulated ice build-up to be ingested by the high pressure compressor. Such a condition, known as an ice shed, may cause the compressor discharge temperature to be suddenly reduced. In response to the sudden decrease in compressor discharge temperature, the corrected core speed increases in the aft stages of the high pressure compressor. This sudden increase in aft stage corrected core speed may adversely impact compressor stall margin. In extreme cases, it may also lead to an engine flame out.
To facilitate preventing ice accretion within the engine and over exposed surfaces adjacent the engine, at least some known engines include a control system that enables the engine to operate with an increased operating temperature and may include sub-systems that direct high temperature bleed air from the engine compressor to the exposed surfaces. However, the increased operating temperature and the bleed systems may decrease engine performance. Such systems may also require valves to turn off the flow of the high temperature air during take-off and other high power operations to protect the engine. In addition to the increased cost, such valving may pose a reliability problem. As such, to further facilitate preventing ice accumulation at least some known engines are sprayed with a deicing solution prior to operation. However, during flight and over time, the effectiveness of the deicing solution may decrease. More specifically, during engine operation, evaporative cooling may still cause freezing and ice accumulation over external engine surfaces, such as a front frame of the engine. Conventional electrical heating is an option, but it requires large quantities of electricity for performing the de-icing operation and may require additional electrical generators, electrical circuits and complex interaction logic with the airplane's computers with the attendant increased cost, weight and performance penalties.